Highlights from Saturday’s St. Louis Cardinals minor league spring training games in Florida.

On Saturday, the St. Louis Cardinals’ five squads were “home” as their Florida Marlins counterparts take the short walk over from their side of the Jupiter complex.

As always, Cardinals director of minor league operations John Vuch shares game highlights. The raw data is his, with the comments mine.

Team summary: The Cardinals had just their second winning day of the spring and their best overall to date. Memphis finally collected their second win in camp whiile Palm Beach and Quad Cities 1 were also victorious. Quad Cities 2 tied their Marlins counterpart. Completing the table-turning, the Cardinals’ winningest team this spring, Springfield, was the only one to take a loss on Saturday as their pitching blew a gasket. The other clubs rode their strong pitching to success.

Combined records: The Cardinals records on the day were 3-1-1. Spring totals are now 16-24-7 overall and 11-19-3 versus external competition.

My Pitcher of the Day: Gary Daley, pitching for Memphis, allowed just two baserunners in four shutout innings. How can one not root for a turnaround by the Cards’ third-round selection in 2006 who has 202 strikeouts with 188 walks in 247 1/3 career innings and mid-90’s heat?

My Hitter of the Day: Memphis’ centerfielder Shane Robinson (pictured) was on base four times, including via a pair of triples. Let’s see… The major league team needs a reserve centerfielder and it is Robinson’s natural position. He went 4-for-11 (.374) in big league camp, including two doubles. Shane also walked three times, drove in three and was hit twice by pitches. Maybe he is trying to suggest he deserved more of a chance?

Sunday’s schedule: The Cardinals enter their final week of camp by facing the Mets. This time, Memphis and Springfield board the bus for Port St. Lucie while the A-level clubs stay home.

Shane Robinson – 3-for-3 including two triples, a walk, 2 runs and an RBI
Tony Cruz – 2-for-3 with a double, a HBP, two runs and two RBIs – If he keeps hitting like this, it will be tough to send him back down to Springfield when the Molina-Pagnozzi dominoes eventually fall.
Amaury Cazana – 2-run HR – Will he return to Mexico? Will he ever play for Memphis again?
Mark Shorey – doubled and scored
Donovan Solano – 1-for-2 with a walk and RBI
Mike Folli – 1-for-2 with an RBI
Tyler Henley – singled and scored – Note Henley is with Memphis while Jones is with Springfield.

Andrew Brown – 3-for-4 with a run scored and RBI – Getting listed here more days than not this spring.
Matt Carpenter – 2-for-3 with a walk
Curt Smith – RBI double
Daryl Jones and Colt Sedbrook – singled, walked and scored – Since being sent down from big league camp (1-for-5), Mr. Jones, the organization’s 2008 Player of the Year, has been quiet. (Nothing against Jones, but our pick that year was David Freese.)
Aaron Luna – single, walk, RBI
Tommy Pham – walked twice

Palm Beach (4-5-1) defeated Jupiter, 7-2

Palm Beach Pitching

Mark Diapoules – 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K’s – Nice showing. Last season, he made 15 appearances with Palm Beach before injury and return to Quad Cities. In the Florida State League, he posted a 5.72 ERA as walks were a problem (28 in 39 1/3 innings).
Arquimedes Nieto – 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 unearned run, 1 BB, 4 K’s – His 116 strikeouts last season was fourth-highest among all Cardinals minor leaguers. His 22 starts between Quad Cities and Palm Beach ranked ninth in the system.
Ramon Delgado – 1.1 perfect innings with a K
David Carpenter – one hitless inning, one walk, one K – Tied for seventh in appearances in the organization with 52 at Quad Cities despite it being only his first full season after converting from catcher.

Palm Beach Hitting

Rich Racobaldo – 2-for-2 with a double, two runs, RBI
Jason Stidham – two hits, run, two RBIs – Did you know the 22-year-old was born at Lakenheath, United Kingdom? I didn’t.
Domnit Bolivar – two hits, run – To be in the know, work on pronunciation of the 20-year-old Venezuelan shortstop’s name – “DUG-nee BO-lee-var”.
Jose Garcia – tripled and scored
Frederick Parejo – single, walk, RBI
Osvaldo Morales – RBI single

Quad Cities 1 (5-5) defeated Greensboro, 1-0 (10 innings)

Quad Cities 1 Pitching

Kevin Siegrist – four hitless innings, 1 BB, 3 K’s – Could mount a very strong argument for repeating as Pitcher of the Day (also won on 3/22). Seven shutout innings over his last two outings. Impressive. Has a 3.07 ERA in his first two seasons. Was with Batavia in 2009.
Mike Blazek – 4 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 5 K’s – A shame this fine outing is almost lost among the other standout performances. Blazek led the New York-Penn League with 13 wild pitches last season, but seemed to be right on the mark on this day.
Andrew Moss and David Kington – 1 IP, 1 H each

Quad Cities #1 Hitting

Niko Vasquez – singled and scored the game’s only run
Jonathan Rodriguez – singled and walked
Devin Goodwin – doubled and walked in his two plate appearances – Second baseman taken in 33rd round in 2009 looking for playing time.
Travis Tartamella – singled in his only AB – 22-year-old catcher batted just .183 in his rookie season at Johnson City.

Rainel Rosario – 2-for-4 with an RBI – 21-year-old Dominican had a .758 OPS with Johnson City last season, his second in the US.
Anthony Garcia – doubled in his only AB – Seems to be doing well with the bat in his playing time.
Jesus Montero – singled and walked in two plate appearances
Yunier Castillo – singled and scored a run – Encouraging to see the defensive standout appearing again among the offensive highlights.